State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, 19th, Xinjiekouwai St, Haidian District, Beijing, 100875, China.
College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
Environ Geochem Health. 2018 Jun;40(3):1027-1036. doi: 10.1007/s10653-017-9963-0. Epub 2017 Apr 26.
Little is known about the variation of Chinese children's exposure to arsenic by geography, age, gender, and other potential factors. The main objective of this study was to investigate the total arsenic concentration in Chinese children's urine by geographic locations, ages, and genders. In total, 259 24-h urine samples were collected from 210 2- to 12-year-old children in China and analyzed for total arsenic and creatinine concentrations. The results showed that the upper limit (upper limit of the 90% confidence interval for the 97.5 fractile) was 27.51 µg/L or 55.88 µg/g creatinine for Chinese children. The total urinary arsenic levels were significantly different for children in Guangdong, Hubei, and Gansu provinces (P < 0.05), where the upper limits were 24.29, 58.70, and 44.29 µg/g creatinine, respectively. In addition, the total urinary arsenic levels were higher for 2- to 7-year-old children than for 7- to 12-year-old children (P < 0.05; the upper limits were 59.06 and 44.29 µg/g creatinine, respectively) and higher for rural children than for urban children (P < 0.05; the upper limits were 59.06 and 50.44 µg/g creatinine, respectively). The total urinary arsenic levels for boys were not significantly different from those for girls (P > 0.05), although the level for boys (the upper limit was 59.30 µg/g) was slightly higher than that for girls (the upper limit was 58.64 µg/g creatinine). Because the total urinary arsenic concentrations are significantly different for general populations of children in different locations and age groups, the reference level of total urinary arsenic might be dependent on the geographic site and the child's age.
目前，关于中国儿童因地理位置、年龄、性别等潜在因素导致的砷暴露差异知之甚少。本研究的主要目的是调查中国不同地理位置、年龄和性别的儿童尿液中总砷浓度。共收集了 210 名 2-12 岁儿童的 259 份 24 小时尿液样本，检测总砷和肌酐浓度。结果表明，中国儿童尿液中总砷浓度的上限（97.5 分位数 90%置信区间上限）为 27.51μg/L 或 55.88μg/g 肌酐。广东、湖北和甘肃三省儿童的总尿砷水平差异有统计学意义（P<0.05），上限分别为 24.29μg/g、58.70μg/g 和 44.29μg/g 肌酐。此外，2-7 岁儿童的总尿砷水平高于 7-12 岁儿童（P<0.05；上限分别为 59.06μg/g 和 44.29μg/g 肌酐），农村儿童高于城市儿童（P<0.05；上限分别为 59.06μg/g 和 50.44μg/g 肌酐）。男孩的总尿砷水平与女孩无显著差异（P>0.05），但男孩的水平（上限为 59.30μg/g）略高于女孩（上限为 58.64μg/g 肌酐）。由于不同地理位置和年龄组儿童的总尿砷浓度存在显著差异，总尿砷的参考水平可能取决于地理区域和儿童年龄。
